Sonoma County Weighs Stricter Medical Marijuana Rules

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors this week could drastically cut the amount of medical marijuana allowed for patients outside city limits.

The board on Tuesday will consider a proposal to get rid of guidelines the supervisors approved six years ago allowing medical marijuana patients to have 30 plants and three pounds of dried pot per year.

Instead, the state limit of six mature plants or 12 immature plants and eight ounces of dried pot per patient is plenty, according to a proposal by Supervisors Shirlee Zane and Valerie Brown, who led an ad hoc committee studying the issue.

Zane described Sonoma County’s guidelines as “very permissive” and said they must change to stem a perception that the North Coast is a safe place to illegally cultivate marijuana.